Method of making inflatable articles



Sept. 8, 1936. J. J. LEE

METHOD OF MAKING INFLATABLE ARTICLES Filed Nov. 18, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Sept; 8, 1936. J. J. LE E METHOD OF MAKING INFLATABLE ARTICLES FiledNov. 18, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVEN r'ae J'au J? lee fl U fi mwaresPatented Sept. 8, 1936 UNE'E'E PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING INFLATABLEARTICLES Application November 18, 1933, Serial No. 698,646

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved method employed inconnection with the production of inflatable articles, such as toys, andhas for its primary object the employment of a method which is simple,productive of articles superior to those produced by present daymethods, and relatively inexpensive in comparison with theresultsobtained in the use thereof.

Another object of the invention resides in producing inflatable articlesaccording to the new method which are seamless, thus improving thequality and lengthening the life of the articles.

A further object of the invention is to produce inflated articlesaccording to the new method by a dipping process employing liquid latexas distinguished from the present methods of die cutting'which employcalendered rubber.

A further object of the invention, according to the new method,contemplates the use of flexible or collapsible molds or formssimulating the article to be produced, thus making it possible toproduce articles of a type heretofore practically impossible to produceaccording to the methods known and available at the present time.

Another object of the invention, according to the new method, is toproduce inflatable articles simulating animals in which the legs areseparate and distinct so that the inflated article or toy is capable ofstanding in its natural position without any other means of support.

A further object of the invention is to employ a method, such as thepresent method, which will permit insertion of noise makers within theresultant articles, thus rendering the articles more attractive to thepurchasers and consequently more saleable.

With the objects aboveindicated and other objects hereinafter explainedin view the invention consists in providing a new method for producinginflatable articles and the articles produced thereby hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

Referring to the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inflated article, simulating a dog,made in accordance with the new method;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the inflatable article shown inFig. 1 and showing the mold or form employed and its relationship withrespect to said article;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2 andshowing the multiplicity of legs;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a form or mold employed in accordancewith the method and simulating a giraffe;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a difierent form of article showingthe mold or form employed;

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of an article, simulating a doll,inflated, and showing the use of a noise maker; 7

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of that shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a front elevational view of an inflated article simulating anoflicer;

Fig. 9 is a front elevational view of an inflatable article simulating acat and showing the article after removal from the mold or form;

Fig. 10 illustrates the mold or form for producing the article shown inFig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a front elevational view of still another type of inflatablearticle, simulating crows, showing the form after submerging in latexand printed;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a form showing embossedor raised portions thereon; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a form showingdepressed portions thereon.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is illustrative of an inflated article 20simulating a dog and produced. in accordance with the new method whichwill be hereinafter described. To begin the explanation it will probablybe well to explain that the method employed produces articles adaptedfor inflation substantially without distortion. In other words, aninflatable article is one which is adapted to be inflated to its normallimit without subjecting the rubber to overexpansion as distinguishedfrom the ordinary type of rubber balloon or similar article which issubject to distortion upon inflation. The dog 20 has a plurality of legs2! formed integral with the body portion and also made hollow so as tobe inflatable. When the dog is inflated it is adapted to be supported bythe legs 2! in an upright position to resemble a natural animal as muchas possible. Ears 22, made of rubber, are secured at 23 to the headportion of the dog by means of a suitable adhesive or any other suitablemeans in such a manner as to permit the ears to move. At the rearportion of the dog there is provided a tail 24 of hollow construction sothat when the same is inflated it will remain in a predeterminedposition and in the end of the tail 24 aninflating device 25 of theusual type is secured.

In Fig. 2 a form 26 is shown simulating the dog 20, shown in Fig. 1 andfrom which it will be readily apparent that the size of the form 26 issubstantially the same as the size of the inflated dog 20. The form 26comprises a body member 21, an integral tail portion 28 and dependingleg portions 29, there being a pair of front legs and a pair of hindlegs extending laterally, as shown in Fig. 3. The upper portions ofthese legs are provided with substantially circular extensions 3B whichare secured to the body portion 2'! by an adhesive or other suitablemeans. The legs 29 are maintained in separated position, as

shown in Fig. 3, by means of inverted V-shaped spacers 31 which extendlongitudinally between the legs 29 and the adjacent portion of the body21, the spacers being secured thereto by an adhesive or any othersuitable means. At the rear portion of the body 21 is an extension 32which serves as a means by which the form 26 may be submerged. Aroundthe edges of the circular portions 30 a filler is employed so as toprovide a tapering surface between the outer surfaces of the portions 35and the adjacent outer surfaces of the body Zlso that form marks orblemishes will not appearon the ultimate article.

The form 23 is illustrated as made of a filled manila paper ofsufficient rigidity to be submerged in a rubber solution and is of anon-reusable and collapsible type for reasons which will be laterdescribed. While thistype of form is preferable for carrying out thepurpose of the method, other types of collapsible or flexible forms maybe employed wherein the same result is obtained;

:In practicing the method the form 26 is submerged in a liquid rubbersolution such as liquid latex, although dispersion of rubber, balata,resins or, similar substances may be substituted, by holding theextension 32 and submerging the form so as to apply a rubber coatingupon the form as indicated by 33. This liquid rubber solution may be ofany desired color. The form 25 is maintained in the rubber solution forthe required 1 length of time, depending upon the thickness of rubberdesired and is then withdrawn and permitted to dry at room temperaturefor a period of approximately thirty minutes. Preferably, the form withthe rubber coating thereon is then cured-by placing the same in an ovenfor a further period of approximately thirty minutes at a temperature ofapproximately 180 F., although othermethods may be employed; After therubber coating upon the form is cured, the form 26 is removed from therubber article by collapsing and withdrawing the form through theopening 34 provided in the article by the extension 32. The removal ofthe form 26 is made possible and easily accomplished due to theflexibility or collapsibility of the form, inasmuch as the form may becrumbled inside of the rubber article andthus materially reduced in sizeso that it may be easily withdrawn through the opening 34. The rubberextension 35 surrounding the form extension 32 at one end of the dogadjacent the tail 24 is then trimmed off by'any desired tool and theadjacent edges are secured together by an adhesive to provide anair-tight seal 36, as shown in Fig. 1. It will be noted that the articleor dog, as in this case, is otherwise seamless which adds life andstrength to the article as there are no seams which are subject to wearand resultant breakage. The-end of the tail 24 is provided with anopening and the inflating device 25, already referred to, is securedtherein so that the article or dog may be inflated. When the article ordog is'inflated, the legs 2i, being hollow, are like- Wise 1 inflatedand, due to the construction of theform heretofore explained remain inan extended andseparated position relatively so that the dog may standotherwise unsupported upon its legs.

To facilitate the stripping operation of the rubber article from theform 25, the latter may be treated in a solution known as a coagulant orsimilar material known in the art, which prevents any tendency of theliquid rubber solution adhering to the surface of the form, thepreferred method being to have a dusting material suspended in thecoagulant to assist the stripping of the rubber film from the flexibleform. The addition of this material eliminates the possibility of therubber sticking to the form during curing.

In Fig. 4 a form 37, simulating a giraffe, is illustrated showing themanytypes of characters 'or animals which may be produced in accordancewith the present method. Attention is directed to the fact that theextension, such as 38, by which the form is supported while beingsubmerged in the liquid rubber solution, should be located at a pointremote from the extensions of the animal, such as the legs and tail,etc., so that after the form has been dipped and cured and it is desiredto strip the rubber article from the form, these extensions, producedupon the form, will be more readily removable. Furthermore, it is to benoted that it is preferable to provide the rubber articles with aninflating device which is located in an extension remote from the sealedportion through which the form is removed.

In Figs. 5 to 11, inclusive, various types of inflatable articles andtoys are illustrated which are of a substantially flat nature, that is,types of articles which are not intended to stand unassisted. In Fig. 5a flying horse is shown, the form being indicated by the numeral 39 andthe rubber coating indicated by the numeral 40. In this particularinstance the form 39 has a central opening 4! which provides in theresultant article a similar opening. It will be readily appreciated thatsuch an article as this could not possibly be produced according to themethods at present available, that is, in the die cut method in whichsheets of calendered rubber are employed and the'adjacent edges of thesheets along'the contour of the article secured together by a suitableadhesive which results in a. substantially.

continuous seam. In this type, however, according to the present methodthe rubber article 40 is readily stripped from the form 39 by breakingthe form along the dotted line at the location indicated by the numeral42, that is, along a portion between the opening 4! and the outer edgeof the form. This permits the form 39 to be removed through the opening43 provided in the forward end of the article by the extension 44 whichis formed integral with the forward end of the form.

In Figs. 6 and '7 an inflated doll is illustrated which is made inaccordance with the present invention, the form in this particularinstance not being shown, as the doll is already in its inflatedcondition, the form, however, being substantially of the size of thefinished doll and provided with extensions similar to those shown. Thedoll has an enlarged head portion 45 and a restricted neck portion 46with arms 41 extending outwardly from the opposite sides thereof. Thereis a restricted waist portion 48, an enlarged hip, portion 49 anddepending legs 50; all of hollow construction and intercommunicating. Atthe top of the head portion 45 a sealed portion 5| is shown which issimilar to the sealed portion 36, shown on the dog in Fig. 1. It isthrough this opening, prior to sealing, that the form is removed andhere again the form is readily removed due to the flexibility anddestructibility of thesame. It will be readily seen that if the form wasnot of this collapsible type it would be practically impossible to stripthe rubber article from the form. As the opening through which the formis removed is relatively wide it permits insertion of a noise maker 52therethrough which may be secured in the restricted waist portion 48 byan externally extending rubber sash 53 tied thereabout so as to forcethe waist portion into a circumferential groove provided in the noisemaker. The ends of the rubber sash 53 are permitted to remain free.Therefore, by squeezing the doll air passing from either the headportion 45 through to thehip portion 49, or vice versa, will cause thedoll to make the noise for which the noise maker is designed. In the endof one of thearms' l'l an opening is provided and securediin thisopening is an inflating. device 54, through which air may be introducedintothe article, but is otherwise prevented from normally escapingtherefrom.

Fig. 8' shows a further type of inflated article produced in accordancewith the method and simulates an officer. There is a seal 55 at theupper portion of the head through which the form isremoved from therubber article. In one of the foot portions of the rubber article aninfiating device 56 is provided in a manner already explained and bywhich the rubber article may be inflated. In this illustration the outersurface of the rubber article may be printed or otherwise designed toprovide the desired surface ornamentation. The step of printing orotherwise ornamenting the rubber article preferably takes place afterthe curing operation, but prior to the stripping operation. In thismanner the form gives the rubber. article rigidity and maintains thesurface in a smooth condition to receive the ornamentation. It is to beunderstood, however, that if it is desired to apply surfaceornamentation to the rubber articles the same may be applied at otherperiods, such as for example after the rubber article has been strippedfrom the form.

In Figs. 9 and 10 are illustrated further characters embodying themethod. In Fig. 10 a form 51 is shown which simulates a cat and thisform has the extension 58 provided at the upper portion thereof by whichthe form may be supported while being submerged in the liquid rubbersolution. Fig. 9 illustrates the rubber article after it has beenstripped from the form 51. In this case in the dipping operation theform 5'5 is sub merged in a liquid rubber solution of any desired color,for example yellow, up to the point 59, indicated in Fig. 9, to apply acoating thereon. This coating is permitted to dry and the form with theyellow rubber coating is then submerged in a liquid rubber solution of adifferent color, for example blue, up topoint 65. The form with the bluerubber coating is then removed from the solution and permitted to dry.It is next cured in the manner already stated and after the curingoperation, but prior to stripping from the mold 51, the face (ii isprinted upon the head portion and the surface ornamentation indicated at62 applied to the body portion of the rubber article. After thisprinting operation the rubber article is stripped from the form 5'! andis in the condition shown in Fig. 9. It should be understood that anynumber of colors may be applied to the rubber article by submerging theform in any number of colored liquid rubber solutions.

' on one side. In the case of an animal this rough- The application ofeach rubber solution, however, results in the rubber article having thatmuch more thickness.

In Fig. 11 a still further character is illustrated representative of apair of birds or crows. It is 5. types of articles similar to this andsimilar to Fig. 5 which it has been practically impossible, by methodsheretofore known, to produce, principally because of the openings whichare provided in the form so as to make each bird individual anddistinct. The form in this case is indicated by the reference numeral63, while the rubber article or coating is represented by the referencenumeral 64. The form at the lower end has an extension 65 bywhich theform may be support: ed, while it is being submerged in the liquidrubber solution. There is an opening 66 separating one crows legs and anopening 61 separating the I other crows legs. Additionally, there is ajoining readily apparent that it would be a most difficult propositionto construct a form of this character if such a form were not of thedestructible and collapsible type, as it would be impossible to stripthe rubber article from a permanent form. However, in this particularinstance it is a rather simple matter requiring that the form be brokenalong the lines indicated by the reference numerals 1E3, TI and 12, inwhich event the form 63 may be removed through the opening 53 providedby the extension 65. To assist in removing the form the same may be bentup in such a manner as to readily pass through the opening 13.

Before the rubber article is stripped from the form 63, and preferablyafter the curing operation of the rubber coating, the outside surfacemay be printed with any desiredcharacters or. surface ornamentation andin this instance the outer surface is printed black, leaving streaks andoutline of yellow to represent as nearly as possible wings and otherfeatures found on a crow.

It is also possible by embossing the paper M to provide raised portionsl5, as shown in Fig. 12, to secure a rough surface which, when dipped inthe liquid rubber, will produce a rough rubber filmwhich later may beprinted in a manner so that the raised portions take the ink and theportions inbetween do not take the ink, thus making it possible tosimulate hair such as on a dog, sheep, etc.

As is well known, embossed paper is only embossed on one side,consequently, if this particular type of paper is used as a paper form,the roughened surface of the rubber would only show 6O ened effect wouldhave to be on both sides, hence this effect was obtained by pasting thesmooth sides of two embossed papers together, as shown in Fig. 12,leaving the roughened surfaces to the outside of the form. Thisparticular form would 65 also be of the flexible destructible type.

It is also possible after dipping the form in the coagulant and drying,to superimpose by stamping or printing in stronger coagulant, thussecuring rubber films of non-uniform gauge or thickness, the purposebeing to secure reinforced portions, which in some instances when thetoy is inflated will not distend in the same manner as the rest of therubber film.

It is also possible by moistening either plain or 75 l embossed paperand then drying in a heated mold to secure appendages'such as ears,horns, tails of birds, etc., of a more life-like appearance. These ears,horns, etc. are to be applied to the form such as is shown in Fig. 1,only in this figure ears 22 are shown which are flat and pasted to thetoy.

With the paper form it-is also'possible that some portions of the form,such as indicated by the numeral 16, in Fig. 13, may be depressed at Hand when dipped in the coagulant will take up unequal amounts, thusbringing an unevenness of gauge and further of securing an unevenness ofsurface in the finished rubber film. This arrangement also willpermit'uneven distension of the inflated article.

While no inflating device is shown in this Figure 11, it is to beunderstood that it may be placed in any number of locations, for exampleon either end of the branch upon which the crows are supported or uponthe tail of one of the crows or upon the bill of either of the crows,the most desirable location in the present instance being upon theright-hand end of the branch. While the noise maker 52 has only beenindicated in connection with the doll illustrated in Fig. 6, it is to beunderstood that similar noise makers may be incorporated in all of theother types of figures shown and that it comes within the scope of theinvention to include such noise makers in these other types of articles.

While I have described the preferred embodiments of the invention, it isto be understood that I am not to be limited thereto inasmuch as changesand modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spiritof the invention as defined in the appended claims.

' Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of producing inflatable seamless articles which comprisesimmersing in a suitable solution a flat flexible severable form having abody portion with one or more marginal extensions including an extensionby which the form may be supported during the dipping operation and witha hole extending through the body portion wholly inside itsmargin'whereby a coating is formed on the immersed portion of the formincluding its sides and outer edge and the inner edge formed by saidhole whereby a portion of the article produced on the form whollysurrounds said hole,.and after the article is cured stripping it fromthe form'through an outer marginal opening in the article.

2. The method of making inflatable articles which comprises immersing ina suitablesolution a flat flexible severable form composed of a bodyportion with flexible marginal extensions includ ing an extension bywhich the form may be supported during the dipping operation and. with ahole within its margin extending from side to side therethrough, wherebya film or coating is formed around both sides and the outer edge 01' theimmersed portion of the form and around the inner edge bounding saidhole, curing the article on the form, withdrawing the form through theopening formed by the supporting extension, sealing said opening, andforming an inflating opening in the end of one of the extensions of thearticle and inserting an inflating device therein.

3. The method of producing inflatable seamless articles whichcomprisesimmersing in a suitable solution a flat flexible severable formhaving a body portion with one or more marginal extensions including anextension by which the form may be supported during the dippingoperation and with a hole extending through the body portion whollyinside its margin whereby a coating is formed on the immersed portion ofthe form including its sides and outer edge and the inner edge formed bysaid hole, and after the article is cured severing a portion of the formadjacent said hole therein and removing the form through an outermarginal opening in the article.

JOHN J. LEE.

